Feature Scooter: Doodlebug Model G
Those familiar with the ‘Doodlebug’ will need no introduction, or explanation for why it’s also the perfect description of an early model Vespa
To anybody who paid interest in their History lessons a ‘Doodlebug’ will need no introduction. For those who didn’t it was one of Hitler’s ‘wonder weapons’. Properly termed the V1, it was designed as an unmanned, jet-powered flying bomb that emitted a distinctive throbbing drone before the engine cut out. The perfect description of an early model Vespa, then!
Back in the mid 60s amidst the growing hubbub surrounding scooter-riding Mods, there were a growing number of slightly more sensible orientated club scooterists with an increasing interest in older models of scooters and a desire to preserve what even then were fast becoming rarities on Britain’s roads. Foremost in this effort was Frank Brookes and the Mid Sussex Vespa Club, driving forces in what would become the Vintage Vespa Club and their now famous London to Brighton rallies.
One young member, Pamela Cadley, would not only lead the ride down to Brighton in 1965 bearing the number one rally plaque, but would, through thick and thin, keep hold of the same scooter she rode in the mid 60s right up to 2018.
Pamela’s scooter, a 1954 Model G Vespa christened Doodlebug, would become a cherished family member, although moving from Burgess Hill to the Midlands. With Pamela’s life progressing, it did not feel the road pass under its tyres for some time. Deciding that it was time to find a new owner who would cherish the scooter as much as she did, Pamela recently passed the scooter on to Mick the Chip for the next phase in its history. After taking over the handlebar grips, Mick – along with the help of friends Danny at Urban Scooters and Dez at Disco Dez’s – sympathetically returned Doodlebug to road worthiness, whilst still retaining that hard-won patina that had taken so many years to acquire.
Remembering her memories aboard Doodlebug, Pamela recounts: “I first became interested in Vespas through my friend Viv Rann from across the road in
I recall it being the original green, but for some reason I also remember it being pinkish… if you look at the damaged areas of paint both colours are present, but I can’t remember if the scooter was painted in the pink colour before I owned it.
West Park Crescent. She had a light blue 125 and I rode pillion for some time before joining the local Vespa club who met at the Friars pub in Hassocks. They had a shed in their grounds that was used as the club house. We spent most of our time attending club rallies with me navigating, but also competed in a number of tulip rallies. Viv was a very good rider, but her scooter was eventually stolen in Brighton, which is how I ended up buying my own.
“Obviously being in a club solely for Vespas meant I’d become a little biased, as club members made rude noises about the competition. One of my father’s workmates had a Vespa he wanted to sell. A price was arranged, £8 if I remember correctly, and the scooter was delivered. I recall it being the original green, but for some reason I also remember it being pinkish… if you look at the damaged areas of paint both colours are present, but I can’t remember if the scooter was painted in the pink colour before I owned it.
“That didn’t last long though as I quickly changed the colour to black and gold, hand-painted by myself with a brush as I thought it would look smart. Firing the scooter up I was so shocked at the cacophony that I instantly named it Doodlebug, as it sounded like it might explode at any moment!
“Seeing that it ran, I took my life into my hands and mounted what I felt could be a ticking unexploded bomb and thought to myself, right, off we go, and opened the throttle. Off I went down Leylands Road before realising I had no idea how to stop it! What was I to do? I didn’t want an accident… Eventually I pulled hard and stamped on anything that looked like a brake. The scooter came to a juddering halt before I reached London Road. Somehow managing to find neutral and get the machine running, I was soon off again and refining my riding skills, which is more than could be said about Doodlebug at the time.
“Whilst never being the most complacent of machines, it did allow me to become more proficient to the point that I soon started to ride with the local club, but inevitably Doodlebug gave up the ghost whilst riding across Ditchling Common. Gallantly trying to give a helping hand, my friend Trevor nearly ran himself into the ground whilst trying to start my scooter. The problem was diagnosed as a de-magnetised flywheel, so off to the workshop it went and once repaired Doodlebug ran like the bomb it was named after.
“That was one of only a few trips to a workshop for Doodlebug as my attitude to maintenance was, if I can read a workshop manual I can do it myself. I was completely unaware of how comparatively old the scooter was by then. It had its own
hangar with half doors to ease entry and exit, and also as a dry place to maintain it. When the weather was too cold to work outside I’d take it into the hall in the house, but had to be careful whilst in there not to get oil on the floor. I rewired it, but had problems at times as I never had any circlip pliers, but always seemed to manage to get whatever the job was done. One thing that I could never get to work properly was the horn so I resorted to beeping loudly myself.
“The carb would regularly fall off and people would tell me that sparks were flying out of the exhaust. It was probably carbon building up and being blown out, but it all added to the character of the Doodlebug!
“One time I was riding down Church Street and there was this enormous noise, far louder than normal. When I stopped to have a look the exhaust had completely fallen off. I didn’t bother retrieving it as it was so hot, but later I started to regret not collecting the pipe as I found it very hard to get another fishtail exhaust. Even then parts were becoming difficult to source and keep such an old scooter on the road.
“The clutch went once whilst on a ride over the South Downs. I got back home somehow, but needed new plates. I was unable to get any so I made my own by whittling down cork plates out of old medicine bottle tops. I slightly mismatched the spacing on a few, which made changing hard now and then.
“We used to enjoy weekend ride-outs and rallies. I especially remember Camber
Sands, New Brighton, Woburn Abbey, Withdean Stadium and Billing Aquadrome. I had the honour of leading all the scooters off from Tattenham Corner on the first Vintage Vespa Club ride from London to Brighton. We competed in the gymkhanas, which is where some of the photos were taken of myself on Doodlebug. The Mayor of Brighton was waiting to meet us at Withdean Stadium and at some point, either that year or the following one, I won the Concourse de Filth, which I’m not sure was a complete compliment. I’d never thought of Doodlebug as Vintage; it was only 10 years old at the time, but with advances in scooter technology it was already regarded as obsolete.
“Whilst at one of the rallies one of our club members broke down riding NCD 191 and had to be towed by Frank Brookes. The whole experience was very frightening, as at one point a large lorry passed and the driver leant out of his cab to give us a warning cloth to suspend on the rope between the scooters.
“We especially enjoyed continental trips, and for these I’d usually ride pillion on Les’ scooter. There was one episode whilst in Paris when we’d been fishing for catfish in the Seine and decided to ride down The Avenue des Champs-Élysées. Everything was loaded on to the scooter, including a kitchen sink, and the scooter started to weave a little. Putting this down to being overloaded, we carried on regardless, but by the time we’d got on to a motorway the Gendarmes came alongside and directed us to the side of the road. We were so shocked that Les ended up pulling a wheelie by accident. We explained the weaving was because the scooter was so overloaded and they let us go on our way.
“Eventually some other motorists passed us and were frantically pointing to the rear wheel. We stopped and it turned out the rear wheel was falling off. We had been quite lucky, but as you can’t get everybody’s hands inside to do a job I hopped on to the back of another scooter and left him to it!
“Work started taking over more of my spare time and Doodlebug was put into storage. When I moved to the Midlands in 1972 it came along with me, but I still didn’t ride it. The last tax disc on the scooter was from 1967, so I must have stopped riding it some time around then. I kept it off the ground so as not to square the tyres, but when I had to store it outside I decided it was time for Doodlebug to go, in order to preserve it. I went to a local garage where I knew the owners had scooters, initially with the idea of having it renovated, but they said it would be too expensive an undertaking so I took a few weeks to make the decision to part with it. Luckily, destiny intervened and Mick came to see Doodlebug, was instantly smitten, and I knew I’d found the right person.”
Since then the scooter has been thoroughly, but sympathetically gone through by Dan at Urban Scooters, with an electronic flywheel fitted for reliability by Disco Dez. The paint remains as Pamela applied it, though it shows the effect of decades of use and exposure to the sun. When the legshield banner was removed after remaining in place since Doodlebug was in regular use, the original colour of the gold was again revealed, leaving a brighter, more vibrant slash of colour across the legshields. With a thorough coating of rust prevention fluid, Doodlebug
has been returned to selective, if not regular use. Following refurbishment, it’s been shown at the NEC Classic Car Show and attended the Surrey, the Lenchford Awfully Pleasant Scooter Association Rally and the Surrey Vintage Scooter Club ride to Brighton – Doodlebug’s old stomping ground – and has been re-united with NCD 191, another Mid Sussex scooter and the one Frank Brookes had towed. By some fluke of fate both now reside in the Midlands only a couple of miles from each other.